06 Nov Severity of Firearm Injuries Escalates Over Ten Years
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Yi Zuo
Yi Zuo
Lead Biostatistician
Center for Clinical Translational Epidemiology and Comparative Effectiveness Research
Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology
Department of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Boston, MA 02118
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Non-fatal firearm injuries constitute approximately 70% of all firearm trauma injuries in the United States. However, patterns of severity of those injuries are poorly understood.
Semiautomatic gun – Wikipedia image
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: There was an overall increase in firearm injury severity from 1993 to 2014, primarily driven by assaultive firearm injury hospitalizations particularly among young adults. Both male and female had increasing trends.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Response: Surviving gun shots doesn’t mean that people have completely recovered. Instead, the majority of them will live very compromised lives with repeated emergency room visits and hospitalizations, psychological problems, and social challenges. Our study suggests not only the public health burdens due to non-fatal firearm injuries, but also the burdens of continued and multiple challenges to the individual.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: To study racial disparity in firearm injuries; to analyze firearm injury severity using emergency room data.
No disclosures
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Citation:
APHA 2017 abstract discussing:
The severity of firearm injuries has increased over the past 20 years
Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.
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Last Updated on November 6, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD